Artist Critique and Converstion at the Maitland Art Center.

Posted on by Thor

The quarterly Artist Critique and Conversaion took place in the Germaine Marvel Building (210 West Packwood Avenue, Maitland, FL). Critique and Conversation is an exciting initiative to assist in the professional development of local artists.  A bar was available with beer, wine, water and soft drinks. Artists of every medium and skill level are encouraged to participate in the critiques. Each critique reviews up to 9 artists, and all artists must sign up in advance.

The June session focused on commercial art. Illustrators, graphic designers and commercial photographers were invited to have work reviewed by our guest panelists. Everryone was invited to hear the panelists’ insights and learn how they balance artistic vision with client expectations.

The guest panelists were

Doug Berger (REMIXED, Agency Partner). Remixed is a full service, multi-disciplinary marketing design agency that develops marketing strategies and brands. They incorporate a ten-step process to develop comprehensive marketing initiatives with award-winning designs that meet strategic goals.

Scott Donald (Art Director) – Donald is an illustrator, painter and designer. His works are part of a larger narrative involving myth, inherited memory and transient glimpses into nature’s connectedness.

Jim Hobart (Commercial Photographer) – Jim is the man behind Macbeth Photography, a distinctive studio that provides portraits, architectural, product and commercial photography, with offices in Orlando and New York City. His passion for architecture is reflected in his fine art photography.

Angela Henson, an interior designer, showed photography of Roman ruins. The best show depicted the huge shadow on a sculpted angel on the walls of a church. Mike Tipso who shoots event photos for the Orlando Weekly, had some vice photos off a farm to table event that took place during the golden hour as the sun set and everything turned to gold. Delores Haberkorn showed a large painting of a dancer gesturing towards a bird surrounded by Greek columns. Steve Parker, I believe is the artist depicted in my sketch. He showed a painting of a friend of his who has a phobia of moths. There were moths all over the man’s red shirt and around him as well. Some moths were painted so photo real, that they seemed to be standing on the surface off the canvas.

CREAM at the Falcon

Posted on by Thor

The Falcon Presents: CREAM. The Cream of the Crop, ‘La crème de la crème,’ the cream of the cream, the best of the best. The Best of Orlando of Artists.
The show opened December 12th and runs through January 18th. I have one sketch of a poetry reading in the show. Check out the most talented artists in Orlando! When you buy local art for yourself or as a gift, you support both the artists in our community and the local economy and you get the joy of giving something that is one of a kind. Melissa Felcman was still placing labels under the artwork when Terry and I arrived. We ordered several hard ciders and I watched the bar maid do her multitasking ballet of serving drinks.

At the opening, I did a sketch at the bar. As I worked, the place filled with artists. Kelledy Francis who did some amazing fine art fashion when she was here in Orlando, had moved to Texas and then NYC where she now works at an advertising agency. She used to work as an art teacher at Valencia College and I once visited her class to share my sketchbooks with students. Scott Donald introduced himself. I had sketched Scott once before as he worked on a painting behind Neon Forest Gallery. He had long hair back then, and I didn’t recognize him in a trim suit all polished up. The Neon Forest Gallery unfortunately had to close down several months after I sketched the opening. They used to bring in hot artist talent from NYC and LA but people in Orlando weren’t buying. It is a sad tale I have heard again and again. Ron Marrs stopped by the bar long enough to let me know he was moving to New Orleans.

Neon Forest

Posted on by Thor

Neon Forest Gallery (1741 South Orange Avenue) opened its doors for the first time with a gallery show entitled “Welcome to the Forest.” This show was four months in the making with floors being painted and walls prepared. The gallery partners are Dustin Orlando, Scott Donald, Sean Hartman and Jason Dwarzski. When I arrived, Scott Donald was out back in the parking lot putting finishing touches on the DRES13 piece entitled “Guerrera.” It was decided that it would be nice to match the colors between the pieces DRES13 was hanging in the show . So some washes of green and red were added along with a light dry brush effect of white in select spots.
TU TU Tango was setting up a food tent and there were plenty of drinks on ice. Dustin, one of the partners in the venture walked outside and looked at the looming clouds on the horizon. He said to himself, “Come on God, Work with me. Well at least it’s not windy.” When he went back inside thunder rumbled. He said they were expecting two hundred people to show up to this inaugural opening. Rain could dampen everything. He hoped it would just sweep through quickly and then dry up. A hard wind blew through the lot and lifted up one of the tents sending it into the air like a parachute. Three of us ran and grabbed the legs before it disappeared. Several people worked on strapping the tent down. Then the rain came.
Inside the gallery I discovered the work of Nicholas Gazin, a Brooklyn based artist who does amazing line drawings of people copulating and strange portraits with titles like, I want your Damage, Suicide Bombing Aftermath, and House of Spirits. Disturbing and thought provoking I wanted to see more. I spoke with Scott for a while and checked out his piece in the show called, “Spirit Bear in the Golden Age of Jihad. ” I then spoke to Tanya Dickie for quite sometime and I found out she posts a picture a day on flickr. This common thread of creating something everyday and posting it, I had to follow up on, and in time I convinced her to show me her work using the gallery’s computer. She started one of her series on September 11th because she had been in the World Trade Center a month before the attack. Like many people that day left a scar that has never fully healed. I sat in my camping chair and watched the limitless possibilities found in taking a photo a day. I felt I really got to learn something about each of the artists I met that night. This was one of the more rewarding openings I had attended lately. I felt elated that the arts are very much alive here in Orlando.
It was easy to drive by the gallery without noticing it and being in SODO it might not get the foot traffic of a downtown gallery. Still, the show was exciting and unexpected. I am hoping they have lasting success.